Deena Pace has been the director for over 12 years. She started out as their part-time bookkeeper and -- just as I had -- held some reservations in the beginning about a facility that was or wasn’t the last home to wayfaring animals. The director at the time assured her that there were some big changes happening so she talked to her husband and decided to take the job. It turned into a full-time position and eventually -- after two directors and two interim directors -- the board decided that Pace would be the best person for the director’s position and she has held it ever since. 

She told me that she may not have stayed if the changes they had started had not continued. 

She really believed in the idea of not euthanizing for just any reason. “We don’t euthanize for space,” Pace states, “and we don’t euthanize for the time that they spend here.” They want to save and rehabilitate and find loving homes for these animals. Homes that they more than deserve. “To save everything,” she said, “there is a lot of work involved in the form of networking and forming partnerships.” — And they have done that. The staff and volunteers for the HSWM travel to Phoenix three to four times a year and also to Flagstaff just to attend adoption events. They are part of an organization called “Pack 911 - Phoenix Animal Care Coalition.” There are about 150 rescues and shelters that partner together to find homes for our four-legged friends — it works, too. Pace told me that they will find homes for 90 to 100% of all of the animals that they take with them. “We have such a variety of different breeds of animals,” Pace told me, “that they are always very excited to see us.” She also said that they are very different from other shelters in the fact that they tell their partners if they can’t find a home for any animal that they bring them, they want them back. They know all of the animals that come to them and they know there is a home for them somewhere.

Pace is very proud of where they are. “Our statistics would be right where some people would call us a ‘no kill shelter,’” Pace pointed out. But she has a problem calling it that. They will still euthanize an animal that is so sick to the point where it affects its quality of life and it cannot be healed. Sometimes they will get dogs that are so aggressive that they become a liability to their staff or volunteers and will have to be euthanized. But even then, the staff will fight for one more week for them to work with the animal and bring it around…and then maybe one more week…and sometimes the animal will turn around! “However, I personally believe everything has a soul,” Pace said, “and if that soul is so miserable that it can’t be healed, the best we can do for it is to free it.” 

Unfortunately, the buck stops with Pace and she tears up as she tells me how hard it is to have the final say. “There are four parts to every animal,” Pace tells her employees and volunteers that she brings on board, “their mind, their body, their spirit and their soul.” Sometimes there are several things broken when animals enter their building and it’s their job to figure out how to heal them. The physical part is easy because they can see it. It’s the spirit that is broken that may take a long time to heal depending on how badly damaged it is. They don’t have a behavior team like some larger shelters but their staff work very hard to put back trust or love and loyalty in an animal that has been surviving on its own for days or weeks or that has been abused.

The HSWM can house 45 four-legged animals comfortably. When they fill up -- which they do often -- they have crates that they put together that they use at night to keep them inside. However, they have several outdoor kennels and play areas. They usually use the crates more in the winter but summers can be difficult too. Pace mentioned that a lot of people try and catch feral kittens (and it’s kitten season now) and then bring them to the HSWM. They think the mother isn’t around. Although Pace hosts a feral cat colony within the confines of the outdoor fenced area, they only allow 12 in it at a time. Many times, they will work with the Pinetop-Lakeside’s animal control and neuter or spay them and then release them back in the spot they found them. 

 

So many people come up to visit and will let their dog out at night to use the bathroom and it won’t come back. I know for a fact that we have coyotes, owls, foxes and other creatures of the night in our neighborhood and small dogs could just be a late-night snack. It’s always best to walk your dog on a leash and also because we do have leash laws in the White Mountain Communities. If you have a fence climber -- extend your fence; if you have a digger -- put some type of restraint around the bottom. And -- if you do lose your dog, the HSWM should be the first place you look. “You could live in Heber-Overgaard, Payson, Joe City, Sun Valley or Winslow and, if animal control is called out or if travelers spot your transient animal, it may end up at HSWM.

“We post stray animals constantly on social media and other types of media,” Pace told me, “but I highly recommend that owners of lost pets physically come into the shelter and look at the dogs we have with us.” Sometimes the breed or color of a pet could get lost in the translation. If they don’t see them the first time, Pace also recommends that they continue to come in and look because they could always show up down the road. The best thing to do is put a chip in your pet and they will do it for only $20 but if that is too expensive, Pace recommends some kind of collar with a name and phone number written on it with a Sharpie.

“It’s crazy to think that our facility has been around for 50 years,” Pace exclaimed! Just in her 12 years with them, she has seen many tough times. Many people think that they are State or Federally funded but all of their money comes in some form of donations from either organizations, big hearted humans or fund raisers. Their daily income comes from their main fund raiser, “The Dog House Thrift Shop” located at 3002 West White Mountain Boulevard in Lakeside. They are always looking for donated items such as blankets, towels, toys and any cleaning supplies. For more ideas on what to donate, go to their website at https://hswm.org/ and look at their wish list. “Every animal gets clean bedding, clean toys and clean dishes daily. Their washers start at 7 a.m. and they don’t turn them off until 5 p.m. 

As far as food goes, they would rather accept money to purchase the food for the animals that come into their shelter. Just like the pets you feed at home, they prefer to keep the animals on a consistent diet to prevent any digestive ailments. However, the best thing you can donate, Pace explained, is your time. They need volunteers to either walk dogs, socialize with kittens and cats, read to traumatized animals and much more.

After spending a couple of hours with Deena and getting the ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Humane Society of the White Mountains, I can attest that it is very loving and caring facility. Not anywhere near what I had thought about it for so many years. I guess I should have checked it out for myself. I saw their strict schedules where every dog gets walked twice a day. Cats and kittens are socialized and some graduate to the adult cat room where they have put in a window just for them. One cat, Jiggy, is kept separate because he eats too much and another dog is fed five to six times a day because he is only gaining one pound a week and needs to gain more. Every animal there has its special needs and they are lovingly taken care of. They know each and every animal well. Pace told me that some animals even hate to leave. I’m sure I speak for many when I say that I wanted to take them all home with me. But when I told Deena that I have four rescues myself, she assured me, “You ain’t gettin nothing today!” I am so glad I went! I can now rest, assured that the animals are all in good hands. Kudos to Deena and her crew!!